Volume 8, Issue 1 - January/February 2001

President's Corner

by marvin landon

happy new year to all club members and readers of the fca southwest region newsletter.  i hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season.  as i reflect back on the year 2000, i was inspired by the amount of participation from our members at each of our events last year.  for those of us who planned the activities of the club, we are especially gratified when the attendance from our members is so high.  participation is how we measure our success.

as you can tell from our new 2001 calendar of events, we have a full roster with very exciting ride and drives, car shows, outings and our first invitational ferrari only concours judged at the national level of excellence.  the club has never been more solid or well attended as it is now. 

the board and committees thank you for your club loyalty and encouragement.  we are heavily involved with the 2002 annual meet in century city and are looking for sponsors, as well as those of you who can help us organize this world class event.  if you would like more information about participating at any level you feel comfortable with, contact myself or any of the committee heads listed on page 14.

i look forward to seeing you this year at the club events and outings.

remember, ferrari?s are meant to be driven.

cordially yours,

marv landon

fca southwest regional president

Tillack & Co. Open House

article by wally clark

november 16, 2000

a large crowd gathered on a chilly night to see steve tillack?s newly expanded facilities and enjoy a sumptuous italian buffet. members were able to tour the race car shop, the restoration  shop, and the service areas, which were all populated with very special ferraris.  steve and his staff gave personal tours of each area and histories on some of the cars.  

there was an on going slide show of the recent mille miglia historics that steve has attended over the years. once everyone had dessert, it was time to fire up the formula one ferrari!  what a great noise it made (even over the noise of the generators), at least until it ran out of gas! there were no speeches, just great conversations about our favorite subjects among all the guests. our thanks to steve and his staff for setting up a special event!  i?m sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

wally clark

LA Auto Show

article and photos by tex k. otto

the los angeles auto show is one of the largest attended automotive showcases in the world, an event that allows manufacturers to tempt road going consumers with their current production cars and futuristic prototypes. among the new model debutantes was the greatly anticipated ferrari 360 modena spider and other significant sports cars including the porsche carrera gt and bmw m3 coupe and convertible.

more pedestrian vehicles that will soon hit the highways are the retro two-seater ford thunderbird, a steve mcqueen flashback mustang bullitt model (san francisco tolerant shock absorbers not included), a lexus retractable convertible and a slew of suv?s created in every scale to keep the oil companies very happy for the foreseeable future. los angeles does not earn the respect to introduce all of the new designs such as the ferrari 550 barchetta pininfarina, minicooper, the new dodge viper or the soon to be introduced nissan z car, as the grand daddy of american auto shows opens the following week in detroit.

michael lederman, of ogner motorcars, was on hand at the ferrari display of authorized southern califormnia dealers. here was the north american debut of the stunning red 360 spider to the throng of salivating enthusiasts that lined the exhibit?s perimeter three deep. this particular 360 had the traditional 6-speed manual transmission to look the part of a ferrari, even though about 80 percent of the 360 models are delivered with the f1 paddle shift transmission. all viewers were exposed to what elements make a ferrari, by it?s prominent polished aluminum knob above the gated shifter pattern, and the glass covered visible mid-mounted engine.  in the plushly carpeted display, the spider?s top down stance looks fast even at rest, as the aerodynamic rear deck sprouts sail panels behind the driver and passenger. also on display were the balance of ferrari models: 360 modena coupe, 456, 550 marenello and a 360 challenge car with ferrari of beverly hills markings.

as car enthusiasts and fca club members, we are regularly exposed to ferraris and know about the racing heritage of the marque, yet seeing a new ferrari is always exciting. i took a few moments to absorb the beauty of this new spider. standing amongst those that lined the rope of the ferrari display; i was reminded how rare the presence of a ferrari is while overhearing the other viewers. many had never seen a ferrari in person before, others had not heard of a ferrari; but thought they were the coolest cars at the show. without knowing the price, people knew they were expensive and for that reason alone; they wanted one to impress their friends. still others, with more practical automotive needs, were just curious at what the crowd was looking at with such ah. none of these cars in this display looked like a stroller would fit into the back seat, so they quickly moved on.

with most of the next several years of production already spoken for, ferrari doesn?t really need to appear at car shows to get people enthused to buy one of their cars.  but i know what a major disappointment it would be to not see a ferrari at a car show, especially one in the automotive mecca of southern california. if only to spark the desire to a few of the show?s attendees to one day purchase a ferrari, the mission has been accomplished to bring new enthusiasts into the fold of ferrari ownership.

365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder

by gerald l. roush

reprinted from ferrari market letter with permission.

the idea behind the 365 gtb/4 daytona spyder was certainly not new. for years, ferrari had offered a limited production open version of its more plentiful closed automobiles. some had been models with an identity of their own, for example the 275 gts with its pininfarina body shared mechanicals with the 275 gtb, but visually was quite different. others had been nothing more than the closed version without a top, such as the 330 gts, which below the window sill line was identical to the 330 gtc in appearance.

the open version of the 365 gtb/4 daytona would follow this latter trend, and visually was an obvious adaptation of the pininfarina designed berlinetta style. because the original styling of the berlinetta was that of a fastback, a bit more modification was necessary to make the adaptation than would have been required to adapt a notchback coupe. the result was a spyder version that shared front end and lower bodywork sheet metal with the berlinetta, but a new rear deck and, of course, roof line. the result was altogether pleasing and quite harmonious, giving no hint that the car had not been designed as a spyder. not all conversions from a closed design to an open design can make the same claim.

the first appearance of the daytona spyder was at the frankfurt auto show, on the stand of auto becker, the german importer for ferrari, in late 1969. this car was in all probability s/n 12851, as the factory has confirmed that serial number as a ?365 gts/4 spyder? which surprisingly was not delivered until 1972! it is in the united states today (1983), and has the later style pop-up headlights rather than the plexiglass covered lights originally fitted.

i have an unverified note in the files that lists s/n 13377 as the next spyder produced, which would make it the first of the production. serious production did not begin until 1971 however, with the first confirmed example being s/n 14365, although s/n 14347 may actually be the first. the first version manufactured to meet the u.s.a. specification was s.n 14383.

there is an aporcryphal story that has circulated for years that has at least some of the engineers and managers at ferrari not being in favor of putting the daytona spyder into production. as the legend goes, their argument was that the daytona was designed as a closed grand touring car capable of long stretches of driving at 150+ mph. when it was made into an open version its character was changed. it couldn?t e driven as the designers had intended with the top up, nor with the top down!

whether true or not, the story does indicated the character of the car and the facts are that the majority of the daytona spyders were made for the u.s.a. market, where long distance cruising at high speed was severly hampered by speed limits. a total of 96 examples were made to the u.s.a. specification, and while the total number produced is not known, it seems very unlikely that more than 96 others were made.

despite its shortcomings as a high speed grand tourer, the daytona spyder became very popular, particularly in the united states. once the 365/gtb 4 went out of production and the usual phenomenon of appreciating values took over, the spyders version increased in value much faster than the berlinetta to the point where, today, the open version is worth twice what an equivalent closed version is worth. when new there was not too much differential. the base price of the spyder in august, 1972 was $25,810 versus the berlinetta?s $23,940.

the resulting price difference resulted in the "conversion" craze, when berlinettas had their roofs cut off and bodywork modified to make them into convertibles. the first such<